While the Dogme movement has produced several fascinating films, its strict, nitty-gritty code the filmmakers work under -- no soundstages or stage lighting and no stationary cameras among other rules -- has felt conspicuous in many of the 25-odd films certified by the informal genre governing body, the Dogme Collective.

But in "Italian," writer-director Lone Scherfig has dropped the pretense and just made a movie. Her filmmaking is transparent, so nothing stands between the viewer and the picture's wonderful world of curiously interconnected characters.